Hi Blog. Got a week’s extension on my next Japan Times column, so I’m going to spend my Friday night doing what everyone does on a Friday night–writing protest letters, podcasting…

Oh, and creating a yahoogroup for the people who would like to participate in forming an NPO to represent the interests of NJ long-termers, permanent residents, immigrants, and naturalized citizens. (Sorry it took me a few days to get to it.)

The group’s name is NPO Foreign Residents And Naturalized Citizens Association (Japan) (FRANCA).

So far we have two people–Steve Koya (who is willing to act as Treasurer) and myself (who will do whatever, probably speak out and write a lot).

The yahoogroup is designed for more private discussion and debate (as well as voting on resolutions and goals through the polls functions on the site). We’ll hammer something out over due time and then formally register the group with the government.

When you join, you will be asked by the settings if you want to write a message. Please do–tell us your real name, how long you’ve been in Japan, and what you hope to get out of this group. Thanks. I will vet and approve every application.

Arudou Debito in Sapporo

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PS: I’m seriously vetting for people who believe in the goals (see the yahoogroups site) of the group, and are serious about getting it off the ground. Trolls, moles, bemused bystanders, and people who trash groups for sport will not be accepted and will be dropped from the group if uncovered. (Sorry to sound Draconian, but I’ve got nearly a decade’s experience running lists like The Community and it’s better in the long run to front-load only the interested.) Goryoushou kudasai.

Masao Horibe, professor emeritus of Hitotsubashi University, who chairs a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications panel, is pictured on Thursday.

The government is set to regulate the Internet by integrating current laws concerning information, telecommunications and broadcasting, it was announced on Thursday.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications unveiled its plan to submit a bill to the regular Diet session in 2010 aimed at unifying the Telecommunications Business Law, the Broadcast Law and other relevant laws.

The move is aimed at paving the way for the government to regulate the contents on the Net, which has enormous influence on society.

The new legal measures could also affect the distribution of newspaper articles on the Internet.
ENDS